Dr. Dre talks about Eminem joining Aftermath Entertainment on Lil Wayne’s Young Money Radio.
Last year, Dr. Dre made an appearance on Lil Wayne’s ‘Young Money Radio‘ for an interview. Wayne’s radio show has already hosted a number of celebrities. Drake, Eminem, DJ Khaled, Kevin Durant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Stephen A. Smith have all appeared as special guests on his show. They have uploaded a clip now the two speak on where they were at in their career in 1999. Dre recalls having to name his 1999 album The Chronic 2001 instead of The Chronic 2000 after Suge Knight released a Death Row Compilation album under the same name and speaks on how he felt leaving his masters behind after leaving Death Row Records. Dr. Dre also talks about how the signing Eminem made Aftermath Entertainment took off in 1998.
Dre founded Aftermath Records in 1996 after leaving Death Row. Interscope Records, a division of the Universal Music Group, handled distribution for Aftermath Entertainment. Acts like 50 Cent, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar are under this label.
When Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the CEO of Aftermath’s parent company Interscope, agreed to sign Eminem in 1998, it was a turning point for the label. Everyone quickly saw the potential of Dr. Dre’s new label when Eminem’s “The Slim Shady LP” peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and got widespread praise from critics.
Things between the two don’t always go as planned. Because of Eminem’s skin pigmentation, Dr. Dre almost gave up on signing him. “I didn’t know how many racists I had around,” Dre said. “My general manager had these eight by ten pictures of him, and he’s like, “Dre, this boy got blue eyes! What are we doin’?”
Eminem flew back to Detroit from California after hearing the exchange, believing it would not work. He was recently evicted from his home, and the two of them are at their lowest point.
“Leaving Death Row, there was a lot that was going on in my life at that time. I got married in 1996, had a son in 1997,” says Dr. Dre. “And then I had to start a label, build a new crew, and you can imagine how much work that takes. And all these things are happening simultaneously. I just felt like, the music I was doing at that time, it wasn’t completely up to par, it was something we were working on and experimenting with it. I think the album that we did at that time, the Aftermath record, the first record, it went platinum, but it wasn’t my best foot forward. It didn’t smash. Jimmy Iovine introduced me to Eminem. And that’s when everything took off.”
Also Check out: Eminem’s Interview with Lil Wayne on Young Money Radio.
Watch it below.
https://youtu.be/aZ15mWt_9Tw
